The Brand
The Brand is a way to mark those who belong to The Unseen Hand. It’s a magically infused tattoo on the left palm, invisible to the naked eye but felt by those who have the mark. It only becomes visible when mana or energy is focused through the mark's magical circuits. These brands can be activated by anyone who is marked with a controlling brand (The Anemoi and The Shadō). The brand will tingle when near other branded individuals, mild heat burn when The Anemoi are near and if The Shadō is near if is more like the sensation of an acid burn. Those branded are strongly compelled to obey and keep anything they know about The Unseen Hand to themselves. ''NOTE: The following details of how the brand works and it's function is unknown to the Branded. This information is only for the player to better understand The Brand'' The Brand is ultimately based on the same design. The more complex and intricate the more power is holds. The "ink" (if it can be called that) is a compound involving blackstones and the base. Originally there were three brands: Slave's Brand, Controlling Brand, The Brands of the Shadō. "Slave's Brand" This is the brand that all have who are not The Anemoi or The Shadō. The Branded and The Faceless share this brand. It binds them together with a bond that transcends gender, race, social status or nationality. Thought it is a sign of servitude, the brand offers the bearer its own gifts. This brand is placed on the left hand and is invisible to the naked eye. Over time the brand offers a boon, too. Improved health, slowed aging, and over time a boost to their own innate abilities. Though they only provide a minor boost, it can be enough to save their lives in an equally matched fight. This boon is maintained by coming in contact with those who have a controlling brand on a regular basis, The Anemoi. However, though it is rare and minor, as time goes on and the more power acquired leads the bearer of a brand towards madness... "Controlling Brand" A more detailed brand than the slave's brand, is the Controlling Brand. These are special brands selectively given out by The Shadō to The Anemoi. This brand is located on the right hand of the wielder. When they use it to brand others they place their right hand against the left of their future servants. Each mark contains traces of blackstone and a portion of the soul of those who performed the mark. Each person an Anemoi brands the greater their power grows. The boons of the brand that the Slave Brand offers is exponentially increased with the more Branded they acquire but at a cost. Just as it is a rare risk for The Branded to go mad it is a much more certainty for one of The Anemoi to descend into madness. Since the benefit of the brand is intensified so, too, is it's curse. "The Brands of the Shadō" The final and most powerful brand is the one wielded by The Shadō. Originally, The Shadō had brands on both hands: The Creation Brand and The Mastery Brand. It has been written in the Tome of Whispers and Echoes that The Shadō holds life and death in their hands. Over time every Shadō must be replaced. The madness is a certainty in every Shadō's life. Some resist while others prepare, most fight it. However, in an effort to change their destiny, Zefka, the recent Shadō willingly split his mark with another, Selah. In order to maintain balance he gave Selah the Mastery Brand while keeping the Creation Brand. The cost of using these brands are much more severe than even those by The Anemoi. The Mastery Brand, located on the right hand, gives the barer the ability to control The Anemoi and The Branded to more of an extent than the Controlling Brand, even to the point of them not acting in their own self interest. Additionally, this brand can command the mind to the extent of a branded's thoughts and memories. The Creation Brand, located on the left hand, allows the owner to mark others with the Controlling Brand. Also they have the ability to manage the health of those branded. It is because of this link that The Creation Brand can, is some rare cases, return life to a branded who has fallen. When such a feat is formed it costs both the performer and receiver of this resurrection. Both are forever changed and that much closer to madness.